Episode 12: Marvin Merkins’ NEW YORK CITY INFERNO (1978)

This week we’re kicking off Fistmas season with our very first French film: Marvin Merkins’ New York City Inferno. Straddling the line between narrative and travelogue, the film tells the story of Jérôme, a Frenchman who descends into New York’s hedonistic leather scene to find his missing lover, Paul.

Shot at several legendary New York gay spaces — including the notorious Mineshaft — New York City Inferno is a true classic of the genre and perhaps the greatest film to come out of France’s gay sex film boom.

Over the course of this episode, we’ll dig into the beginnings of the French gay film industry, the film’s completely authorized Village People soundtrack, and the backstories of many of the real people and places featured in it.